Silence Dogood Letter Summaries

Letter 1:

Silence Dogood’s first letter starts out with her explaining that she would like to add to

their entertainment by providing random information about her and explaining on how she was a

county minster, which in turn she attained the knowledge to become a woman. Her mother died

two years later, which left her with no known relatives.

Letter 2:

Dogood talks of her “Master” and how she married him because he had an

“unexpectedly” set his eyes on her and was in love. He was a great benefactor to her and people

approved and disapproved of their marriage. They were married for seven years and had two

girls and one boy, but then he died. She became a widow for several years and wants to remarry;

she has abandoned that thought due to her being unable to find a suitable man.

Letter 3:

In the country, it is the duty for all persons to serve where they live according to their

talents. In accordance to that, it is impossible to please all readers at once—for they have

different reactions to things, such as one may have great joy to something whereas another may

find disgust in it. But the one thing that may find in common is love; they hope that each one to

their whole in …love.

Letter 4:
Dogood was at dinner with her reverend boarder, a man by the name of Clerieus. She

discussed with him about the matter of educating her son, in which he strongly supported his

education. After the dinner, she went out and fell asleep under the great apple tree where she

dreamt of a place where learning was categorized to the stingy, the ignorant, the bribers, and the

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successors. She wakes up to see Clericus, with a book in his hand, walking around in the trees.

She retells him her dream, and he, without much study, interprets it as a representation of

Harvard.

Letter 5:

This continues as a “Men and Women” discussion from comparisons to similarities. Men

not only have the same faults as women, but they have a more. Men complain that they are

forced to work too hard, yet women have more work and have fewer grievances towards the

labor they are required to do. And yet with this, men do not allow women the advantages of

education. Although with the restrictions and such, men do make women happy with the men’s

prideful actions to become the best and have their women to live more humane and happy.

Letter 6:

Men want unlimited superiority over his “Fellow-Creatures”, fancying themselves to

taking over the world and governing it as their own. Franklin talks about the “foolish” fashions

of the women, such as “Hoop-Petticoats” and talk of the inconvenience of the attire because not

only do the women detest the trends, it is extremely uncomfortable.

Letter 7:

Poetry has been seen to not be expected in New England, and so Dogood proves that they

do with different pieces of poetry such as, An Elegy upon the much Lamented Death of Mrs.

Mehitebell Kitel, Wife of Mr. John Kitel of Salem, and etc. With this, he shows of the “Elegies”

that he believes to be worthy of a reader’s eyes because of its sufficient quality that has been

bestowed upon each of the “elegies”.

Letter 8:

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 This letter notes of the “Without freedom of thought, there is no such thing as wisdom,

and no such thing as public liberty, without freedom of speech” and continues on that each man

has this right, as he does not control or hurt the right of another. This privilege that has been so

vital to free governments that the countries where a man could not call his tongue his own has

suppressed the freedom of speech. Rome is a prime example of the lost of their freewill to

speech; after they lost their liberty the men’s words were watched and feared.

Letter 9:

The best of men are betrayed by hypocrites that turn their opinion of goodness into

another outlook, making them ignorant to those who are the better of him. The most profane

person of private capacity ruins himself through his inability to accept others of publicity. It tells

to not trust a religious man in power even if he good-hearted for he may have many temptations

to proliferate public destruction for personal advantages and security. But one must not judge

one another by their best actions; since the worst men do some good, and all men make fine

professions. Instead one must judge them by their conduct and the effects of it. And to obscure it

more, honesty requires the great and long proof.

Letter 10:

He starts out with explaining of the hypocrites is more dangerous than an openly profane

person because they would betray the best of people by thinking that everything is going great in

the country. Then he tells of how the leaders trick the clergy—then they trick the people.

Furthermore, the leaders proceed to rob the people of their money and destroy the country, but

when they die the bad leaders are remembered for the insignificant goods they have done for the

country rather than the evils they have committed.

Letter 11:

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 This letter tells of “match-making” and improving family members conditions because of

the benefits (if there may be any) of match-making. Such as, if they were a virgin or she was a

hefty spender of fashions. But then the necessities of exceptions comes into play where it is, no

women should be admitted into the society after she is twenty-five years old, no member of that

certain society shall be entitled to any money when she comes to age, and no woman shall

entertain any company with encomiums.

Letter 12:

Men drink to discover the conceptions of their mind in an entertaining and intelligible

manner. With that said no pleasure can give satisfaction or prove advantageous to a reasonable

mind because the gratification of being reasonably inclined has ceased to be frowned upon. The

effects of intoxications have been shown different for each individual. With the various effects it

has also been shown that each prevailing day, a new character gets hatched out and is added to

the modern-time vocabulary.

Letter 13:

Silence Dogood writes about her encounters with the people who run around the streets

of Baltimore. She notes all of their weird and funny gestures and their antics. She also states that

these “night-walkers” contributed to the lively atmosphere of Boston and contributed comic

relief for the people weighted down by daily life.

Letter 14:

Each man who differs from another in opinion sets himself above him in his own

judgment and if he examines his heart thoroughly he will find zeal. But then he creates suspicion

in mankind, he alters his opinion on a religious account and therefore struggling with one’s

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conscience. With his own judgment, he seeks to become a wiser person and then he gives into

the system of ethics with God in hand, having the enigmatic importance of the word “church”.